While it has become intensely cold in Japan, we have not had rain much and have had warm, summer-like weather during the day here lately.
Our annual mochi pounding festival welcomed many attendees. The committee members’ hard work and children’s smiles and cheers made the festival quite a success. Thank you very much.
The flu that has been going around has died down, but let us remain cautious and vigilant against it.

2/3 (Wed) Setsubun Day and bean-throwing ceremony (Renge & Kiku class)
2/12 (Wed), 13 (Thu), 14 (Fri) February birthday parties and monthly offerings
2/15 (Sat) Ms. Horiuchi’s story time at Saturday Japanese School
2/17 (Mon) School closed for Presidents’ Day
2/27 (Thu) Open house for Girls’ Day (Momo class)
2/27 (Thu) Rehearsal for Girls’ Day at Huntington (Sakura class)
2/28 (Fri) Open house for Girls’ Day (Sumire & Ume class)

Date: Sunday, March 2 1:30-2:00pm 2:30-3:00pm (two shows)
Place: Huntington Library Japanese Garden
The annual musical play by Sakura class will be shown on the time mentioned above. Please invite your friends and family and join us.

Sakura class … a i u e o no uta (AIUEO song)

tearai no uta (Hand-Washing Song) … We will recommend the children to sing this song also at home, so please practice it with your child!

onegai onegai kame-san yo (please, please, dear turtle)
… rub the hands against each others
ano sankaku-yama no fumotomade (until the base of the Triangle Mountain)
… tangle the fingers of the both hands
ookami-san to kyoosooda (let’s race with the wolf)
… scratch the palm with the nails of the other hand
baiku de run run ittooshoo (came in first place with my bicycle)
… rub each wrist with the other hand
*sing along with moshi moshi kameyo, kame-san yo song

The day before the mochi pounding festival, Sakura-class children pulled about 20 daikon radishes from our vegetable field. At the festival we had the ground radish with mochi and it was very tasty. But the radishes are still in the process of growing.
This year’s radishes have great looking leaves, thanks to all of your cooperation. So, we would like to introduce a recipe using radish leaves. We will continue to pull more radishes, so please use them to make a delicious dish called tsukudani, radish leaves boiled in soy sauce. It is very nutritious.

Here is the recipe for radish leave tsukudani: daikon radish leaves, dried young sardines, bonito flakes, sesame seeds, etc.
1. Lightly boil the radish leaves with salt, squeeze the water off the leaves, chop them up and wring more water out of the leaves.
2. Sauté the leaves with the same amount of sesame oil and vegetable oil. When the oil is evenly distributed to the leaves, add noodle dipping sauce and sauté some more.
3. When all the water is evaporated, mix the dried young sardines.

Sakura class children are making scarves using the finger knitting method. They are working hard at their own pace without taking a break during free time.
We are looking forward to seeing the end products.

February 3rd is the day of setsubun. Every year at Kodomo no Ie we have the ceremony. We become ogres with the masks each of us made and some of us take part in throwing beans to the ogres. We get rid of “crying ogre,” “mean ogre” and “messy ogre” in our hearts by throwing beans to the ogres who do not like beans. We also put the same amount of beans as our age in a self-made origami paper box、recite a spell and eat them. I recommend that you enjoy the ceremony at home also, having the father dress up as an ogre.